Putin's ‘memo’ on peace includes halting NATO expansion, territorial claims – media
Putin's conditions for ending the war in Ukraine include a requirement that Western leaders give a written commitment to halt NATO's eastward expansion and lift some sanctions on Russia, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing three Russian sources familiar with the talks.
"After speaking to Trump for more than two hours last week, Putin said that he had agreed to work with Ukraine on a memorandum that would establish the contours of a peace accord, including the timing of a ceasefire," Reuters reminds, noting that Russia is delaying the drafting of the memorandum, while at the same time trying to advance in eastern Ukraine, which it is accused of by "Kyiv and European governments."
"Putin is ready to make peace but not at any price," said one senior Russian source with knowledge of top-level Kremlin thinking, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The three Russian sources said Putin wants a "written" pledge by major Western powers not to enlarge the U.S.-led NATO alliance eastwards - shorthand for formally ruling out membership to Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova and other former Soviet republics.
Russia also wants Ukraine to be neutral, some Western sanctions lifted, a resolution of the issue of frozen Russian sovereign assets in the West, and protection for Russian speakers in Ukraine, the three sources said.
The first source said that, if Putin realizes he is unable to reach a peace deal on his own terms, he will seek to show the Ukrainians and the Europeans by military victories that "peace tomorrow will be even more painful."
The first source said that if Putin saw a tactical opportunity on the battlefield, he would push further into Ukraine - and that the Kremlin believed Russia could fight on for years no matter what sanctions and economic pain were imposed by the West.
A second source said that Putin was now less inclined to compromise on territory and was sticking to his public stance that he wanted the entirety of four regions in eastern Ukraine claimed by Russia.
"Putin has toughened his position," the second source said of the question of territory.
Reuters notes that neither the Kremlin, nor Kyiv, nor NATO responded to the agency's request for comment on the information received.
